


The Hunter and the Wanderer

by Prof_Anity



Category: Bloodborne (Video Game), Fallout 3
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 21:21:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14173656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prof_Anity/pseuds/Prof_Anity
Summary: The Lone Wanderer was abducted by a false god, and only the Good Hunter can rescue her.





	1. The Hunter

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like a primer on my two characters, Amelia and Xandra, I've provided their bios!  
> Amelia: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12240561  
> Xandra: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13166466

Amelia Osborn awakened in a strange cave. The process of getting here caused more of a strain. It felt like she had traveled to an entirely different world. Yharnam was hostile, but this place was wrong. Candles were strewn every which way, innumerable gravestones were split open and bleeding, and plants grew even where they seemed unlikely to. The environment outside was bathed in sickly hues of yellow, green, and brown. How eerie. And that was just what was visible from the inside. At least there was a lamp, to connect with the Messengers.

Her thoughts were interrupted by an unexpected voice. “Is this normal to you?”

Reflexively, Amelia put a hand around the axe strapped to her back. Her grip loosened when she got a better look at her fellow captive in this nightmare. 

There was a figure crouched against a cave wall, amongst the gravestones. At first Amelia only saw dyed white hair. Then, the person raised her head to look at Amelia, pushing her glasses up. She was a young woman, not even out of teen years it seemed. She wore an odd dark blue jumpsuit, a hefty device strapped to her left wrist, and grey shoes.

“Is it?” 

Amelia lowered her mask. “I have seen my share of horrors. But it never gets easier.”

“Same here. I thought I knew what bleak looked like. Guess not.” 

“Tell me how you got here.”

“This guy sold me some stuff for cheap. Then something picked me up. I woke up in some old school. The guy who got me in this mess to begin with was there. He told me to leave the place. I wouldn't have listened, but I had nowhere else to go. There were some blobby slimy things. I tried to fight them off with my bat, but there were just too many. I went through a door. And it brought me...here. Whatever this is.”

She can fight. Good.

“I hope you will take pleasure in learning that I killed the wretch, Patches.” Amelia pulled down her dark spectacles. “Tell me, are you a praying kind of woman?”

“Me? Not really. Dad used to read the Bible to me, but he kind of just lost the habit at some point.”

“Well, who or whatever you worshipped, try to find some support, because you will need all that you can get here.”

“I just need...to get home and be with someone I love, okay?”

“Family?”

“Nope, don't have that anymore. My girlfriend.”

Amelia’s demeanor softened.

“I will get you home.” 

Amelia hesitated for a second, before she removed her right glove and offered a hand.

The young girl took her hand limply at first, squeezed it for a second, and pulled herself up.

“Amelia.”

“Xandra.” 

“Well, Xandra, you are going to need a weapon.”

“I figure this–” she gestured to a wooden bat sitting beside her– “isn't going to do?”

“No.” 

Amelia strode over to the lamp in the center of the cave, flicked it open, and knelt down to contact the Messengers. The little ones brought a bottomless box, full of equipment. This girl liked to fight, which weapon would work out for her?

She found the perfect weapon, and returned to the frontier. She held an aged, patched up hammer.

“Oh my goodness! What a beautiful hammer!”

"There is more to this. Let me demonstrate.”

Amelia swung it to the side, flicking a lever in the process, and the hammer was suddenly ablaze. With one fluid motion, she slammed it right in front of her, and the impact created a fiery explosion.

She saw the girl Xandra’s eyes, wide with awe.

“Take it, get a feel for it.”

Xandra took the Boom Hammer with both hands, endeavouring to keep it aloft. She eventually found the proper stance. Amelia watched her walk out of the cave and practice several swings. It was clear that she was fairly strong. Now, to test her.

Amelia took a pebble, and flung it in the direction of a nearby beast, hitting it in the head. It got the werewolf's attention, which then tried to find where it came from. The werewolf locked eyes on Xandra, and its bestial instincts took over.

Amelia gripped her axe, ready to strike if something goes wrong.

Xandra saw the werewolf coming towards her, and activated the trick weapon, which she slammed into the monster. The blast knocked back the beast, which got on all fours, ready to pounce. But before the werewolf got to her, Xandra proceeded to slam the hammer repeatedly into the creature until it crumpled to the ground. 

Xandra turned back to Amelia.

“Oops,” she said, wiping a smear of blood off her face, with the hint of a smile.

She truly was a child. Despite her instincts, Amelia was beginning to like her.

They proceeded down the valley, encountering two more werewolves. Amelia took the lead from here. Axe transformed into its second form with a turn of the wrist, she ran up to the one closer to the edge of a cliff. She drove the halberd through the silver beast, sending it falling into the poisonous swamp below. This got the attention of the werewolf ahead of them. What the beast hadn't noticed was that Xandra had crept up behind it, and she proceeded to crush it with her new weapon.

Amelia pointed ahead, and onward they went. They progressed to find two hunters, drunk on blood beyond comprehension. After the ordeal of the Hunter’s Nightmare, Amelia has had little tolerance for her predecessors. As far as she was concerned, their sins had caused the curse that hung over their heads for time.

She nodded towards the first hunter, one with an axe similar to hers, and Xandra gave a thumbs up. 

Amelia got the first hunter’s attention with a throwing knife. She walked slowly towards the man. Xandra got behind him and swung her hammer as hard as she could. Caught off-guard, the hunter was knocked into Amelia’s direction, who reached into his chest and wrenched out a sizable chunk. 

The second hunter, carrying a cane and blunderbuss, rushed as fast he could to their position. He shot his gun to divert them, then transformed his cane into a whip. Amelia managed to avoid the threaded weapon’s arc, but a cry told her that Xandra was not fast enough. Amelia saw her clutching her arm, blood starting to flow. 

Amelia gritted her teeth. With a crash, she brought her axe’s heavy blade hard onto the blood drunk hunter. Then, with her prey dazed, she extended her weapon and drove the pointed end through his chest.

Fury subsiding, she walked up to Xandra, who was laid up on the ground. The girl discarded a large, used syringe, and was trying to steady her breathing. It looked like the whip managed to strike her in several places across the arm and chest. The gashes looked bad, but they also seemed to be healing rapidly.

“Are you alright? Can you stand?”

“Ungh. Give me a second, and I’ll be on my feet. This thing works pretty fast.”

“I understand,” said Amelia, turning away to use her monocular. Ahead was a nasty-looking swamp, what looked like the only way to go.

When she finished scouting, Xandra was already up and waiting for her. 

They pressed further on, into the swamp. Massive white sea slugs that reminded her so much of Mother Kos, swam lazily until they spotted the pair. The crawlers thrashed in a frenzy, spewing poison.

The duo had no choice but to wade through the noxious water. They avoided the crawlers as best they could, but at some point they became overwhelming. Amelia had to fend them off with her axe eventually, but she struggled to give it momentum.

But the spaces in between the collections of crawlers was fairly big, as the swamp was massive.

What they had not counted on was that giants were above them, ready to hurl boulders. One noticed the pair, and threw it in Xandra’s direction.

Instinctively, Amelia shoved her young friend away. Xandra was put out of harm’s way, but not Amelia. Before she lost consciousness, she feebly instructed Xandra to carry forward. The last thing she heard was panicked splashing. 

Then began the wait to return to life. By the time she reawakened at the lamp, she lost her cool.

Amelia sprinted through the frontier, bypassing the monsters she had so carefully eliminated during their initial trek. Thankfully, the creatures lost interest in her eventually, returning to their own territories.

She pushed through the toxic swamp, adrenaline pushing her to run as much as she possibly could. She could not help but notice that a good number of the crawlers were either dead or weakly retreating. Good girl.

She reached the other end of the swamp, a cavern inhabited by a sole giant. A light on the other side indicated to her that this was the way. On solid ground now, Amelia ran towards the monster and jabbed the sharp tip of her axe into its face. It grabbed its face, blinded. She then drew her axe back as far as she could, and brought it crashing into the giant. A sickening crack came from its head.

Made it. She had crossed through this side of the frontier, and into the other. This area seemed less expansive. At first, she could only see a cliffside. But the further she peered, the clearer she saw pathways leading into another swamp in the middle. Hopefully it would be less of a pain.

She started to relax. Maybe too much. Just as suddenly, a painful echo began to build in her brain. She became conscious of a lullaby. A familiar one, almost motherly.

A Winter Lantern! She had to deal with this quickly. The sinister collection of eyes and teeth took note of her, and the rest of the creature, a grotesque approximation of a human, began walking towards her. The song continued still, getting more and more insistent.

Going on pure instinct, Amelia dashed behind the creature and drove her axe into its back, before shoving her fist straight through it. The Winter Lantern shrieked as it fell off the cliff and into the infinite expanse beneath them.

Amelia had to sit down, to let the cacophonous noise in her head go away. Winter Lanterns got under her skin more than most of the nightmares she has encountered, not only because of their horrendous appearance, but because they have a calming ability. They mesmerize you with their song, then destroy your brain and feed on what is left. The thought makes her shudder.

She called out for Xandra, and was beyond relieved to hear a response. The girl had found her way to a lower level of the cliffside, where she was safe. She quickly fumbled around her coat to find an antidote.

Xandra swallowed the medicine, and withdrew another of her syringes. She found an appropriate place in her arm, took a breath, and injected. Its effects were quick. The light had come back to her eyes in no time. 

Amelia offered a hand, one more time.

Now, Xandra’s grip was stronger, as she pulled herself up.

They seemed to be in the final stretch of the valley. There was another swamp in the middle, but an elevated pathway led to a walled area, almost an ancient citadel. That had to be what they were looking for. 

With Xandra to her right, Amelia cautiously stepped inside. Away from all the beasts, it was silent. But on the top of the single remaining tower, she spotted their captor. 

Amygdala, the false god, dropped down. A terror of a beast, a monstrous melding of man and spider, the Amygdala certainly posed a challenge. But whether it was a god or not, the fact still remained that it was no more than an obstacle.

Her partner seemed less than certain what was happening. Xandra gave her a confused look, seemingly not seeing their foe, probably cloaked from sight to those who lack the insight.

Amelia had an idea, punctuated with her transforming her axe. The monster slammed its many arms down on the ground, leaving itself wide open. Opportunity present, she swung her axe in the widest arcs she possibly could, causing tremendous gushes of blood to flow. 

Xandra yelled, “Yes!” and struck the creature with several blows from the hammer, finishing with an explosion before backing off. Good to know that worked for her.

Amelia’s mind worked in lightning-fast speeds, making sure each factor was accounted for. Amygdala’s long reach told her to keep mobile. She had to draw its attention away from Xandra. And she had to make sure the creature was visible, so blood had to keep flowing. Simple enough.

With clear intent, she gracefully baited Amygdala’s many arms, letting Xandra hit them. The hammer did plenty of damage, ultimately breaking several limbs.

Running underneath Amygdala, Amelia drove the sharp tip of her weapon right into its face. Amygdala dropped to the ground, leaving its head wide open. Opportunity present, she seized its face and wrenched the gnarled flesh, exposing its many eyes.

Amygdala, fury building to a head, reared up and ripped several of its own useless arms off to serve as makeshift weapons. Amelia was so caught off-guard she failed to dodge the sweep that came her way. She laid on the ground for a moment in disbelief, before getting on her feet and taking several blood vials. 

“Enough!” said Amelia. In the corner of her eye, even Xandra stopped for a moment.

Amelia drew back her axe, and brought the blade crashing into Amygdala’s bleeding face, connecting with a wet sound.

Xandra followed her up by igniting her hammer and slamming it in the creature’s face, the blunt collision giving way to an explosion half a second later.

In a last, desperate attempt to defeat the pair, Amygdala fired several beams of light that ignited feebly, before staggering. Amelia and Xandra dodged these easily, and they dashed right up to the immobile creature. Together, they drew back and slammed their weapons into its face at the same time. 

Amygdala, the false god, dropped down to its knees before finally collapsing and dissolving into blood.

Enjoying the momentary silence, Amelia removed her gloves and mask, and placed them in her coat pocket. Xandra, dropping the hammer out of sheer tiredness, stepped around the pool of blood to meet her, with a big grin. In the glow of their triumph, Amelia actually returned the smile.

Knowing what happened after slaughtering the prey, Amelia kneeled down to reach out to the Messengers. The little ones already knew what she wanted.

This time, it was Xandra who offered a hand.

Amelia took it for a moment, before passing on a small bell. “If trouble comes, call me,” she said, firmly.

In a moment, her young friend was gone, hopefully back to her own world. No matter. If she needed help, Amelia would be there. And if their paths never crossed again, then she can rest easily.

She picked up the discarded hammer, and noticed the Messengers bearing a lamp. Amelia nodded serenely. She had earned this trip back to the Hunter’s Dream. After all, she had fulfilled her duty to the first hopeless youth who needed her help.


	2. The Wanderer

**Morning/Afternoon/???, The Nightmare Frontier (but she doesn't know that)**

Xandra Gomez was not having a good day. She had been offered supplies by a strange merchant who looked like he hadn't been out in the sun for a century. The man promised that he was answering to a higher power and so, would sell his wares at a much cheaper price to those who needed aid. Then he laughed to himself a bit. Totally suspicious, in retrospect. But Xandra, not being the best at reading people’s intent and not the most willing to let a good deal pass by, purchased a box of goods anyway. After all, most wasteland weirdos didn't cause trouble as long as they were left to their business. She checked the items, and they seemed legit. What seemed to be variations on standard survival goods like stimpaks full of blood, unlabelled medicinal tablets (“for when you feel ill”, because that’s specific), weird looking bullets which she'll more than likely resell. There was also an odd meteorite that looked a bit like an almond. It was neat though, so she figured she’d pocket it.

Then, she got picked up by  _something_. It had long fingers that could have been a deathclaw’s, yet those didn’t have teleportation powers as far as she knew. And where was she teleported to? Somewhere dark, for one. She could make out old-looking scientific instruments, and a chalkboard. So it could be a lab, could be a school. It was also very cramped, so she got out before she felt sick.

She saw a door on the opposite hall, and who was behind it but the same merchant, with the same faux-friendly posh accent. The jerk told her that she should be thankful for his help. Right. He then told her to leave. Under most circumstances, she wouldn’t have, yet a few startling encounters with some blobby water people later, and she was out through the first possible exit she could find.

And from there she blacked out again, and awakened… somewhere else. A cave, littered with candles and bleeding headstones. Okay. She stepped out, and found a place that made even the wasteland she was from look normal. Trees burst forth from places that shouldn't support life. Structures stood in a way that couldn’t have been designed by human hands. And how could she forget, THE ENTIRE PLACE WAS IN THE AIR.

She had to laugh, or else she would cry. At least the drab green and brown sky felt familiar.

Xandra checked her usually reliable Pip-Boy to get her bearings, and was faced with a blank screen. She pushed every single button and turned every knob, smacked the device lightly, yet nothing. Great.

This place was an attack on her senses. How can something so sedate feel so hostile, how do so many things just not make sense about it? It got under her skin in a way that left her unable to think. She wasn't supposed to be here.

Xandra felt the onset of a killer headache, so she retreated to the cave. It was cowardly, but the tiny part of her that could still think rationally knew that this would be better. She crouched down by the wall, face in her hands, but with her feet ready to bolt in case something tried any funny business.

She lost track of how long she was here, when a woman appeared. She wore a brown hat paired with a face guard, dark glasses, a long gray trenchcoat, a vest with like four belts, a somewhat ruffled shirt, matching pants and sturdy boots. God, isn't she hot under all that?

She was taller than Xandra, and much more dignified. She didn’t seem that much older, but she carried herself like she’s lived several lifetimes, all of them tough.

Xandra just had to ask. “Is this normal to you?”

The woman was startled, and reached for a weapon on her back, but then eased up.

She had to know if this was somebody who could help her get home. “Is it?” she repeated, a little fainter.

The tall lady lowered her mask. “I have seen my share of horrors. But it never gets easier.”

The way she spoke reminded Xandra of her dad, totally measured and almost soothing.

“Same here. I thought I knew what bleak looked like. Guess not.”

The woman asked, “Tell me how you got here.”

And so Xandra did, not leaving out any details of her dumb mistakes. Goodness, what an idiot she felt like.

After listening to this, the hunter pulled down her glasses to look right at Xandra.

“I hope you will take pleasure in learning that I killed the wretch, Patches,” she said. Xandra just nodded.

The woman continued, “Tell me, are you a praying kind of woman?”

Odd question, but this woman was her only hope, so Xandra felt obligated to answer. “Me? Not really. Dad used to read the Bible to me, but he kind of just lost the habit at some point.”

“Well, who or whatever you worshipped, try to find some support, because you will need all that you can get here.”

Xandra gritted her teeth. “I just need...to get home and be with someone I love, okay?”

“Family?”

“Nope, don't have that anymore. My girlfriend.”

Xandra looked up at the woman to find her expression shift slightly, just enough for her to perceive. Was it sympathy, or pity?

“I'll get you home.”

The lady offered Xandra a hand, which she took. Xandra enjoyed the warmth for a second, and then pulled herself up.

“Amelia.”

“Xandra.”

“Well, Xandra, you are going to need a weapon.”

“I figure this isn't going to do?” she said, nodding towards her bat.

“No,” said Amelia, shaking her head. She then walked towards the middle of the cave, kneeled, and suddenly stood up, carrying something large.

What was that about?

Amelia turned around, bearing a hammer about the same size as a Super Sledge.

Xandra couldn’t help but gasp. “Oh my goodness! What a beautiful hammer!”

“There’s more to this. Let me demonstrate.”

Xandra watched Amelia flick a lever on the hammer, which resulted in sparks. Without missing a beat, she slammed the weapon down on the ground, creating a blazing boom.

She was speechless. She just had to try it.

Amelia seemed to sense Xandra’s excitement. “Take it, get a feel for it,” she said.

Xandra was almost falling over herself to take it. She stepped out of the cave, out into light. She then realized that it was a little heavier than she had expected, and had to carry it with both hands at first. Eventually she settled down into an appropriate stance. She swung the hammer a few times, trying to let it be a natural extension of her. She closed her eyes and fond memories of playing baseball came back to her.

A snarl interrupted her daydreams. Amelia drew the attention of a freaky werewolf with a sideways mouth towards them. Xandra gave her a dirty look. Was this woman trying to get her killed?

Banishing the thought in favor of focusing on the threat ahead, she remembered what she saw and activated the hammer. She slammed the Boom Hammer as hard as she could, creating an explosion that knocked back the werewolf into a nearby tombstone. Not wanting to lose her advantage, she bashed the prone beast as much as she could until she ran out of breath. It shuddered a bit, and died right there.

She turned back to Amelia, wiped some blood off her face, smiling. That was definitely cool, even if Amelia scared the heck out of her for a moment. “Oops.”

She thought she saw a hint of amusement on Amelia’s face. She wanted a little bit more, but that’s some validation. Maybe she cared too much about what others thought of her.

Amelia gestured forward, down the valley. She took the lead, dealing with werewolves, while Xandra helped out occasionally.

For once in her life, Xandra saw side paths that she did not feel like exploring. It only took being on a foreign world to temper her insatiable curiosity.

They eventually came across two fellow people, but right away Xandra could tell these were not friendly. The first, they managed to take out together. Xandra got behind the guy and smacked him with the Boom Hammer, then Amelia followed up with what looked like a fist to the chest.

The second was a little trickier. He carried a cane that turned into a bladed whip. Xandra was getting seriously jealous about the creativity in this place when it came to tools. Or at least, she would be, if the guy hadn't cut her in several places. She was dazed, and Amelia had to step in, dispatching the hunter with some scary efficiency. That woman knew how to use an axe.

Xandra had to reach into her jumpsuit to find one of her two emergency stimpaks. That did the trick, helping her wounds mend fairly quickly, though they still stung. She sat down for a second, while Amelia scouted ahead.

Eventually, they had to move forward. The swamp extended a great deal, and was filled with giant sea slugs. She took one step into the murky water, and started to feel sick very quickly. The slugs began to spit poison at them, and flailed violently.

She and Amelia had to move as quick as they could. In the distance, she saw several giants but paid them no mind. That is, until they started throwing boulders.

The first couple missed, but then one of them aimed at Xandra. It was sure to crush her, until Amelia shoved her out of harm’s way but got struck herself.

Xandra stopped, horrified.

“Go…,” Amelia managed to say before losing consciousness and vanishing.

At this point, Xandra has had enough. She yelled and started running through all the slugs, swatting at them wildly with her hammer. She tried to find solid land as much as possible, but she just kept stepping on mud. Still, she progressed at a steady pace, keeping her head down to not attract more attention. All the while she thought of Amelia.

Eventually, she found herself past the swamp and at the entrance of a cavern with a giant. She bypassed it completely, illness totally draining her patience. At some point, the dumb creature forgot about her completely.

She had reached the next area, a cliffside that descended into another valley, and into another swamp. Great. At least a clearer path was visible.

And then, Xandra started hearing a distant melody. It brought to mind something long absent in her life, something reassuring. She kept walking to find the source of the song.

Which, perhaps unsurprisingly at this point, came from a disgusting creature. Most of the body looked somewhat humanoid. The head, on the other hand, was a swirling mass of eyes and teeth.

Xandra backed off as quickly as she could, while trying not to attract the creature’s attention. Thankfully, she found a lower level to the valley she could drop down to. She sat there for a while, trying to ignore the poison in her system. Was Amelia really gone? Was this how she was going to die, quietly and alone in what was possibly another world?

She sat and cried. Until she heard a frenzied screeching, and saw the eye creature falling of the cliff into the abyss. This was followed by the only voice she wanted to hear at that moment, calling out for her.

Xandra responded, from the comfortable nook that she had found, with a yell.

Amelia arrived a moment later, quickly offering a medicinal tablet. Guess this is what that Patches guy meant.

Xandra took this, and used the last of her stimpaks. She felt her strength returning little by little. Amelia then offered a hand once again, which she took with a firmer grip. Hopefully, they can find her way home soon.

Together, they navigated the less expansive valley. The path was helpful. There only seemed to be minor detours, that neither of them clearly wanted to explore, especially since one of them was another swamp.

They made it to the center. A lone pathway lead to a ringed island. She wasn’t quite sure how to describe it. Was it a fort? A colosseum? Whatever it was, it reminded her of a cranial cavity which, due to her lifestyle, she was very familiar with.

There was a loud crash across from them, it seemed that something dropped down from the top of the lone tower standing in the area. Standing to Amelia’s right, Xandra gripped the Boom Hammer tight.

And she would be ready to fight. Problem was, she couldn’t see it. Loud footsteps gave her some idea of where it was, but it didn’t seem to be any shape she recognized. She walked cautiously, letting Amelia take the lead, as she seemed to see that they were dealing with.

When Amelia’s axe sliced open whatever it is, the splash of blood gave away the location of the creature. Wielding the Boom Hammer with both hands, she took a huge swing and successfully connected.

The resulting gush of blood revealed the outline of the thing. The face was pretty much a massive version of the meteorite she had acquired. It seemed to have close to a dozen limbs which, yep, ended in wildly long talons. It was in a word, disgusting. She can't believe that was what took her here.

Before the trail could vanish, Amelia and Xandra piled more attacks on the creature. Xandra found herself moving much faster, rolling and sidestepping much more than she thought she could. Maybe this place was getting to her.

They played it safe, with Amelia cutting the monster open with her axe, so that Xandra could identify its location and bring the Boom Hammer crashing.

They were making good progress, approaching it from every conceivable angle. At some point, it became an unconscious process of dodging and attacking. She had checked out, for a little bit.

Xandra’s attention returned, just in time to see Amelia shove a fist straight through the monster’s head. She had no idea how this crazy hunter lady had the stomach for that, but if it meant killing this thing, then let her do that by all means.

A deafening roar came from the creature, followed by it ripping its own arms off to use as weapons. Blood gushed out of it uncontrollably. That’s new. At least she won’t have a problem following it now. Now Xandra really was focused on the fight, despite the growing feeling of losing her mind.

Xandra was surprised to see Amelia get knocked over by the arm clubs, and even more stunned by the guttural yell she made when she recovered. 

She watched Amelia’s axe connect with the monster’s exposed face, leaving it dazed.

Realizing she had an opening, Xandra ignited the Boom Hammer, and swatted the beast like a fly. The stench of burning flesh almost made her gag.

Weakened, staggering, the huge creature fired several laser beams that exploded weakly. Xandra and Amelia, working on the same wavelength, dodged the blasts and dashed up to its head. Together, they leapt into action and slammed their weapons into their target’s face.

The monster shuddered, fell to the ground, and melted into a pool of blood.

There was a clunk, as Xandra dropped the Boom Hammer out of sheer exhaustion. She rubbed her aching shoulder for a moment, then gingerly stepped around the pool of blood to meet Amelia. She couldn't help but flash a huge smile at her pal, and thankfully, Amelia returned it.

She looked at her body, starting to vanish, and then nodded at Amelia. Despite her initial impressions, she found herself respecting this woman. Xandra reached out to Amelia, who took it in her ungloved hands. Something metal exchanged hands, and the last thing she heard was Amelia saying, “If trouble comes, call me.”

And then, darkness.

**Morning, The Capital Wasteland**

Xandra woke up in the same place where she was taken. She was still clutching the gift that Amelia had given her. It was a small bell, with little faded symbols. Neat. Right into her pocket it went.

The box of supplies was still there, alongside her knapsack. She tightened her shoelaces, pushed her glasses up, and retrieved her gear. On second thought, maybe she should hold on to this stuff.

She felt filthy, drenched in blood and guts. She definitely needed a change of clothes and a bath. But she felt a kind of clarity she hadn't experienced in a while. And boy, did she have a story for Bittercup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At some point, the story kind of became about itself.
> 
> Hey everyone, thanks for reading! I wanted this to be out by March, but it got delayed by, well, life. But hey, it's a big boy, so it counts for both March and April.
> 
> As always, comments are welcome! I may or may not have something to follow this up...


End file.
